http://blogcritics.org/ A sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, politics, and technology - updated continuously. en Copyright 2005 by the authors Mon, 7 Mar 2005 22:57:27 EST http://backend.userland.com/rss Blogcritics.org custom software http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/02/24/015539.php#comment-126137 excellent job, look forward to reading more from you. 126137@blogcritics.org Mon, 7 Mar 2005 22:57:27 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/02/24/015539.php#comment-122314 Thanks for the comments. No I haven't read other of those authors. I will have to put them on my list. Lately, I have been reading books on Latin America for a class. I read an excellent novel, The Underdogs by Mariano Azuela. It is about the Mexican Revolution. It's historical fiction but a pretty good description of the people who fought in the war. 122314@blogcritics.org Thu, 24 Feb 2005 18:07:29 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/02/24/015539.php#comment-122042 Thanks for the review. I have often wondered about those two, but never got round to checking them out. Being a fan of historical novels, I think that those set in Paris or London have an edge on all the others. The two cities are just so evocative, old cathedrals, mist on the river, mobs and royals and republicans... Do you like Ackroyd's books about London, or Hilary Mantel's A Place of Greater Safety (about the French Revolution)? They're both great too. 122042@blogcritics.org Thu, 24 Feb 2005 05:25:20 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/02/24/015539.php#comment-122028 This is interesting. I was just preparing to jump into the food fight between A.J. Jacobs, who read an encyclopedia and wrote a book about it (*The Know It All*) and his NYT reviewer Joe Queenan. Queenan criticized Jacobs for, among other things, being "unaware that the story of Heloise and Abelard is not some obscure medieval tidbit but an insanely famous love story." I was ready to side with Queenan, but I will reconsider. 122028@blogcritics.org Thu, 24 Feb 2005 02:25:33 EST